How to Target Millennials Using Email

Millennials spend billions every year, so it’s no wonder that companies are investing heavily in marketing to this target audience.

Companies looking to reach this attractive audience need to know how to capture their attention, but many fail to do so. Brands often get sidetracked by shiny new media like Instagram and Facebook Messenger, but don’t realize that this group doesn’t like to hear from brands when they are socializing with their friends.

While millennials are phone-obsessed and spend a lot of time in social media, they expect brands to respect their space and connect on their terms. The ability to connect with this generation is critical companies to thrive in the long term.

Marketers must be strategic in order to reach millennials in the channels that they prefer. According to Adobe Email Consumer Survey, millennials prefer to hear from brands via email. Here are five things to keep in mind when targeting millennials via email.

Millennials love email.

More than half of millennials between the ages of 18 to 24 and 43 percent of millennials aged 25 to 34 check their email in bed in the morning. This target demographic is also the group that is least likely not to check email until they get into the office. And they are also checking their inboxes after hours, while on vacation and even while engaging with other media such as television.

Millennials hate irrelevant emails.

While millennials might love to hear from brands via email, that doesn’t mean you can send batch-and-blast emails and call it a day. Thirty-four percent of millennials report being annoyed by brands that send emails with products or services that they could care less about. And less than one third of all marketing emails are opened by millennials. While email is a great chance to get a millennial’s attention, this group is also very digital savvy and expects brands to personal content towards their interest and not to spam them. Keep this in mind when targeting this fickle group and be sure to surprise and delight them.

Inbox Zero is their Holy Grail.

This group loves being inbox zero. Sixty-six percent of millennials report achieving inbox zero, meaning that they have responded to, deleted or filed all emails. Since this group is so active and responsive in the inbox, they want to keep things clean. Don’t over send to this group or they’ll just delete your messages or worse yet, they’ll unsubscribe. And don’t expect immediate reactions. While they are quick to triage their inboxes, they may file away marketing messages for the weekend when they have more time to shop.

Millennials check email on their desktop.

Millennials love their smartphones but not for checking email. In fact, more than half of millennials report that their desktop is their primary device for checking email, with less than half reporting their smartphone as their primary device for looking at email. While millennials might glance at their email on mobile phones, they are more likely to respond to emails and react to marketing messages on their computer. Marketers should consider this when building messaging and landing pages. While mobile optimization is still important, don’t forget to build story experiences on the desktop when targeting this audience.

Millennials prefer email in the workplace.

While it’s not uncommon to see this demographic using social collaboration apps and IM at the office, email remains the preferred channel of communication. Using email at work proves that this generation is email literate and comfortable with the medium. Anyone that says that email isn’t for millennials, doesn’t understand that it is part of their daily life.

Get our smart tips on digital marketing. The newsletter will be published with about 10 numbers a year and of course we will not leave your address to anyone. Much pleasure!